Sweet stories all around. I’ve never been around much livestock, but they sound like fun, until the work aspect settles in. Like gardening only more so.
Today is a rainy day, thank goodness, so I hope to get some inside chores done. I have a lot to get done before heading out to Oregon on Sunday.
Cow Chronicles - Tuesday (yesterday):
Exciting stuff going on across the road in the pasture(s). There were 3 different situations, I won’t try to go through them chronologically - just too complicated, but here are the 3 activities going on:
The downed cow (aka DC for brevity) was alive and alert yesterday, something I could not see in the dark the night before. When the farmer arrived, he went straight to her, checked her out, was patting her & rubbing her back. These are beef cows and not used to being handled, as opposed to dairy cows who are used to be being handled and touched every day. The patting & rubbing, something DC was not used to, likely had her trying to get up and away. After checking her out, the farmer sat in his truck a bit away & watched her for 10-15 minutes. I saw her try at least twice & once later to get up, but she just couldn’t do it. The farmer did give her a feed pan of grain & “stood guard” for 10-15 minutes while she ate, shooing the rest of the cow herd away - they wanted grain too. Later in the day, about 3 hours later, he brought DC water & hay. Obviously, he has hope that she’ll recover enough from whatever is going on, to eventually get up.
The next “big thing” .... two very “little things” - new calfs! There were two itty bitties spotted in the pasture - the new mamas were hanging together away from the main herd. The farmer approached in his truck, then got out to see if he could catch the calfs - nope, not happening. One mama was very protective and hustled her calf straight away & the other mama followed with her calf. They headed to a grove of trees where the cows hang out in the shade. The farmer got back in his truck & followed, staying a small distance away & observing. When the calfs are are very small, they lie down a lot & I believe that is what he was waiting for. He eventually drove his truck around to the other side of the trees, got out & was doing something, but with the swale in the ground, I could only see him from the shoulders up. I think he caught at least one of the calfs - one of the itty bitties was sporting a red (it’s a girl!) ear tag when I got a good look later. I wasn’t able to see the other calf clear enough to see if it was tagged.
The last “rodeo” (and it was LOL) involved one of the calfs - I initially thought it was one of the new ones, but I think it might have been the smaller of the two calfs born maybe 6 weeks ago. Anyway,the farmer at one point drove down to check the cedar copse where the cows like to go to have their calfs. Two cows were hanging out in the area - he parked and watched for maybe 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I had noticed something going on between the field closest to the road & the one ‘behind’ that field where the cows are. A mama & calf were near the fence dividing the two fields & somehow the calf got through the fence & into the front field - mama could not follow. She was anxiously walking the fence & I could see she was mooing. The calf ran just a little, then collapsed in a heap for a nap - tired already. I was hoping the farmer would see this situation & I noticed him looking that way out of his truck window - he could probably hear mama raising a ruckus.
When the farmer left the cedar copse, he drove like he was leaving due to the terrain, but then turned and ended up at the gate between the two fields. Whew - I was glad he had seen the situation with the calf separated from mom. He got into the front field and approached the calf who got up & took off. The farmer is not a young guy - he didn’t run, but had to walk fast. He & that calf went up & down the fence line next to the road several times - due to the bank, they were out of my sight some of that time. Finally, I saw the farmer (top half) heading across the field & I thought he had the calf, then they both came into full view.
I wish I had a video. The farmer had that calf by the tail & was using it like a helicopter cyclic stick to control & move that calf. When it balked, he raised the tail higher & the calf went forward. Tail left or right to turn the calf. It wasn’t a smooth journey (hilarious, actually - I was laughing out loud), but he finally got it over towards the gate where he could let it join mama. Ruh roh - in a burst of energy & bucking, the calf broke free. It turned left down the fence line & was headed for an area where three fields meet at the cow stable/corral. This turned out to be a good thing because the farmer was able to corner the calf long enough to open gates there & get the calf back in with mama, who had followed down the other side of the fence.
The DC, new calf tagging & the ‘rodeo’ took about an hour and a half. I know that poor guy was tired - he certainly got his exercise chasing calfs! He came back about 3 hours later with the water & hay. Fun times now that calfs are starting to arrive & I hope DC will end up ok - as of yesterday, the farmer was definitely taking good care of her & giving her a chance with food & water.
“I’ve never been around much livestock...”
‘Stew’ would love a visit from you. He’ll head butt ya into his manure pile and then show you where the hay is kept.
P.S. Don’t wear any clothing you care about! ;)